Young Carers Weekend

I’ve just got home from leading a weekend on the boats for a group of Young Carers. What a fantastic group of youngsters!

We met up on Friday evening, and soon set out towards King’s Langley. There wasn’t much daylight left, so we only got as far as the playing field, but this gave us the chance to go and play on the swings and roundabouts, and play around on the fiel…d. The fact that it was getting dark made it more fun rather than less!

Everyone managed to get some sleep, despite the atmosphere in the Young Carer’s end of the boat being a bit like a ‘sleep-over’, and all were up fairly bright and early on Saturday morning. Along to Cassiobury Park for more games, then a visit to Cassiobury Rare Breeds Farm – much enjoyed by all. Then boating on down to Rickmansworth Aquadrome, (for an evening walk in the dark) and an early night – the Young Carers took themselves off to bed before 10.00.

Sunday morning saw us on a visit to Rickmansworth Waterways Trust, where it was incredible to see how the boaters used to live whilst carrying the raw materials and goods for the start of the Industrial Revolution. Then the return trip to Hemel.

Travelling on the boat was much enhanced by cards, Articulate, Connect 4, music, dance, chat and watching the world go by. There was a constant lively buzz of fun and enjoyment, with frequent laughter and merriment.

As ever on a Waterways Experiences run trip, we ate extremely well – cooked breakfasts, snack lunches and substantial evening meals, enhanced with cake, biscuits and fruit at regular intervals.

It was a pleasure to help out on this trip with such an amazing group of young people. Many thanks to Marion Roberts, Jim Burgoyne and Brian Johnston for their help on the trip, and to Alice Walters for getting it all organised. Many thanks to the Graham Rowlandson Trust for funding the trip. And a really big heartfelt thanks too to the Young Carers that came on the trip – you really made it a great weekend, and I’m glad that you had such a good time.

John Bennett

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Trips available throughout the winter …

We operate year round - call our friendly booking team on 01923 723819 for information and to arrange your group's great value canal cruise.
Festive cruises during December include complimentary mulled wine and mince pies

What people say about our trips

I have already been telling all my friends what a fantastic trip it was and will like the same crew Pete, Graham and Maggie and not forgetting Ruby. The crew are all so friendly and made it even more special We can't thank the crew enough for such a memorable experience!!!!

Fantastic day out run by a brilliant company and it’s all for a good cause.

A wonderful day, thoroughly enjoyed by all participants. Not always easy to achieve. As much or as little as one wanted to do. All the extra bits usually missing from self-catering facilities, tea towels, washing up liquid and sponge, salt, pepper etc all present and correct! Amazing! You really can "just bring milk" as suggested.

We really enjoy the boat trips almost as much as the service users! Its not like being at work at all! We recommend wherever we can to fellow groups as the service you offer is so good & excellent value for money.

This was a great family day out and our needs were fully met. We all had the opportunity to work the locks and steer the boat - and if we chose to relax on deck instead, that was fine. The crew were very friendly and it was a delight to be able to include a crew member's dog (our permission had been sought beforehand). This made the trip extra special.

There was enough room to sit at least eight on the deck and more inside. We bought our own camping chairs but there are some fold up chairs available on board. The boat was wider than we had previously experienced so the younger and older members were able to move about with ease without bumping into each other or having to move out of the way, which was great as we had expected the boat to be 'narrow'. The opportunity to have a take away fish and chips meal brought to the boat was a bonus and meant that I didn't have to do the catering. The meal was also reasonably priced and the serving was huge - even by my family's standards! The trip was very good value for money and I have recommended Waterways Experiences to my friends and would extend the recommendation to anyone reading this review. This was a 50th birthday treat from my mum and aunt and it was exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday.

Never been on a canal trip before enjoyed the whole experience and will definitely recommend it. No need to worry about lack of experience everything so well explained.

All our party thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They loved the serenity, calmness, the scenery, the ducks, swans and wildlife.

We all had an amazing day, everyone said how friendly the crew were and how helpful, this made such a difference to the day. When asking the team how they felt they used the words excellent, amazing, perfect and a very special team day out. It was great fun every minute of it.

A really wonderful experience for us all - beautiful boat, beautiful scenery, beautiful day and a wonderful and fun crew. Thank you all so much.

The party of elderly folk we had on board thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Without hesitation I will recommend you to anyone I think will enjoy and benefit from a time on the water. I look forward to another trip!

The whole group went away very impressed with the evening, very keen to come back, thinking of ways to use the boats for other groups and complimenting the skipper and crew on the quality of the experience.

It was a fantastic experience, the trip was very enjoyable for children and adults alike. It made my daughter's birthday very special.

Wonderful day out enjoyed by all. Residents haven't stopped talking about how lovely it was. The crew were so helpful which took away a lot of the usual stresses when arranging a day trip for our residents.

Very enjoyable - your adaptable and friendly staff made us extremely welcome and were appreciative of the needs of a class of 10 year olds.

We had a wonderful day - the sunny weather helped! There were 22 of us which was a good number and meant that there was lots of room. It was an extremely relaxing, well organised day. Thank you.

I was really impressed by the boat, crew and back office. It made the day the best it could have been. The crew was extremely friendly and integrated the guests into enjoying the running of the boat, helping with locks and steering. All in all a very professionally run day and I would not hesitate to book again in the future.